Method of and apparatus for vaporizing, concentrating, or drying solutions.



G. A. KRAUSE.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR VAPORIZING, CONCENTRATING, 0R DRYING SOLUTIONS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29. I916.

1,21 3,6599 I Patented. Jan. 23, 1917.

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GEORG A. AUSE, 0F MUNICH, GERMANY.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR VAIPOEIZING, CONGENTRATING, 0R DRYING SOLUTIONS. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 29, 1916. Serial No. 134,043.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORG A. KRAUSE, citizen of Germany, residing at Munich, Bavaria, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for Vaporizing, Concentrating, or Drying Solutions; and, I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention has for its ob]ect a method of and apparatus for vaporizing, concentrating or drying solutions, according to which the substance to be treated is atomized and converted by suitable means into vapor form at one place, while at another place, entirely separated from the first place, the wet material is dried until it assumes the form of powder or dust.

By performing the two steps, above referred to, at different places I obtaln the advantage that the length of treatment dur ing each step of the process may be controlled and regulated quite independently of the other, whereby in many respects an advantageous influence upon the final product to be obtained may be exercised. For example, it is possible to effect the atomization of material to be dried to any desired de-.

gree of fineness, and thereafter the drying may be effected instantaneously; whereby long exposure of the material to the action of heat may be obviated, which is most important, when treating liquids, solutions, emulsions or suspensions, especially colloidal substances, the durability of which is detrimentally affected by heat. On the other hand it is possible by the improved method to prolong the action of the heat upon the material to be treated for any desired length of time and to any desired extent in respect to area treated so that substances which are not detrimentally afiected by heat may be substantially modified without causing disadvantageous influences which might otherwise result from the first step of the process.

The separation of the atomization and drying also has the following commercial advantages :-If, for instance, a substance to be dried which does not give off its liquid contents easily, is to be thoroughly dried, it is absolutely necessary to employ drying means of very high temperatures. Now, if

these highly heated gases are introduced into the atomizing chamber, two disadvantages occur which may very seriously interfere with the operation. By the highly heated air the liquid to be dried will soon be dried up at the place, where it leaves the atomizing device and the latter, especially if it consists of nozzles, will soon be clogged. In such cases the highly heated drying medium will, owing to its high temperature, soon damage the atomizing device and render the same inoperative. Both drawbacks are obviated by the present invention.

Further, the following should be remarked: Many substances must necessarily be dried in such a manner that a most voluminous and fine powder of a very small specific weight is obtained. The volume and fineness of this powder depend upon the fineness of the vapors which come in contact with the drying medium. By means of the presentinvention the finest parts of the vapor are brought into contact with the drying medium. The uppermost zone of atomi' zation contains the finest vapor, which is transferred into and dried in the drying chamber.

In similar known processes it is impossible to prevent the drying medium from coming into contact with the heavier Vapors, as

they are to befound shortly after their escape f rom the atomization.

For carrying the method above described into effect any suitable apparatus may be used. In the accompanying drawing l have shown a diagram of an apparatus, which I consider most advantageous for use in connection with my improved method.

a is a chamber, in which the atomizing of the substance to be dried is effected in such a manner that from a nozzle 0 to which the substance is fed through a conduit d, by means of a current of compressed air entering through a conduit 6, the atomizing is efiected against. a baffle plate e.

The chamber a may be provided with air inlets f, which may be opened more or less by means of an annular slide 9. A conduit it leads from the atomizing chamber. a to the drying chamber 2', which may be of any desired form or shape.

The drying air or the gas is first brought to a high pressure by means of a blower Z driven by a motor k and then passed through a heating device m to be heated to Patented Jan. 23, new.

the desired temperature and, through the conduit n, fed to a conducting or distributing device 0, which is located at and concentrically surrounds that part of the conduit )3, which opens into the chamber a, into which the vapor or atomized liquid enters. It is thus made possible for the conducting device, if it be in the form of a turbine conducting-wheel or has otherwise suitably curved conducting organs, to force the substance to be dried, or otherwise treated, spirally or in any other suitable kind of motion through the drying chamber under the influence of a. ventilator, which may be provided in' place of the blower Z or which may be arranged as an addition to the end of the drying chamber.

The atomized substance is conveyed from the atomizing chamber 0 and the conduit it into the drying chamber a by means of an air current, which is produced by the ventilator and by the air current entering through the openings f in the atomizing chamber.

The substance thus treated may be re moved through a conduit 32.

The atomization or vaporization of the liquids, solutions and the like to be treated, is thus effected in a chamber, which is to a certain degree remote from the place, where the later drying is effected or where the liquids or the like are subjected to chemical or thermal actions, or is located to the same concentrically, or finally, is arranged in series to the same, so that the liquids or the like may be fed to the same in straight direction or at a certain angle by means of suitably arranged conducting devices.

a conduit connecting said chambers and through which conduit the substances in suspension are adapted to be conveyed from the atomizing chamber to the drying chamber, and means for forcibly projecting said substances in suspension into the drying chamber.

3. An apparatus of the character speci= fied, comprising an atomizing chamber, means for spraying substances containing liquids into said chamber, a drying chamber, a conduit connecting said chambers and through which conduit the substances in suspension are adapted to be conveyed from the atomizing chamber to the drying chamber, means surrounding said conduit through which heated gaseous bodies may pass into said drying chamber, and means for forcibly projecting said substances in suspension into the drying chamber.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORG A. KRAUSE.

Witnesses:

W. S. Srmemrune, A. Drama. 

